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Arrests made in Baker County chicken-fighting ring

Timothy Bennett

Makayla Burnham

Michael Burnsed

Jeffrey Griffis

Morgan Jones

The Baker County Sheriff’s Office broke up a chicken-fighting operation Sunday and arrested six people at the scene.

Authorities responded to a residence in the 18200 block of Timberland Road in Glen St. Mary Sunday about 4:20 p.m., according to the arrest report. They found a group of people gathered in the area with multiple dead chickens, caged live chickens, spurs common in chicken fighting and chemicals commonly used to inject chickens.

Sheriff Joey Dobson said nine dead chickens were found and about 20 were able to be saved and taken by animal control.

Timothy Bennett, 48, and Michael Burnsed, 22, both of Sanderson, cooperated with authorities and were arrested and charged with animal cruelty, according to the arrest report.

Several people ran into the woods near the residence when authorities arrived and four were apprehended.

Makayla Burnham, 18, of Glen St. Mary, Jeffrey Griffis, 35, of Sanderson and Morgan Jones, 19, of Gainesville were all charged with animal cruelty and resisting arrest without violence, according to the arrest report.

The sixth suspect arrested is younger than 18 and is not being named. There were several children there as well, the Sheriff’s Office said. April Griffis, 31, of Sanderson and Priscilla Dyal, 36, of Glen St. Mary were both charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the arrest report.

Several people fled the scene but left their vehicles. The vehicles were towed and their owners are being charged on a variety of crimes when they retrieve them, Dobson said.

The sheriff said it’s been a long time since a chicken-fighting operation was discovered in Baker County and the last similar incident was a dog-fighting operation seven or eight years ago.